Live and Learn

Yesterday, I finally donated blood again after so many times of putting it off or being sick. My university frequently holds blood drives on campus and that’s when I usually donated. I signed up for an appointment at 9:45 in the morning and did the proper preparations: I drank lots of fluids, ate a good breakfast and showed up to do my thing.

I filled out the necessary paperwork to and then waited. A few people were ahead of me and filled their forms out; a guy came in after me and filled his paperwork. It was his first time donating; he told me he had been in an accident a few years back and had been given blood. He never got around until right then to give back. He said he wanted to give twice the blood he was given, so other people could have the same experience he had.

What a nice story, I thought, as the nurse called me to finish the questionnaire. I didn’t know having a tattoo and/or piercing done makes you ineligible for a year! After the questionnaire, I was taken to the cots, where they take your blood. This, is probably the scariest thing about the whole experience. Not my favourite thing ever, but they have to get it sometime. They made me squeeze a tension ball to get the blood flowing. Apparently, my blood flows really fast: I was finished in five minutes!

Back to Mr. First Time Donor. He was placed on the cot next to mine. We were chatting as my blood was being drawn, and he asked me why I donate. I thought about why and it hit me: I didn’t have a reason, I just wanted to. The weirdest look came on his face as I finally sat up and was let go. Fun random factoid of the day: I chose the dark blue bandage to go with my dress; they ran out of green!

I’ve been donating blood since I could and I try to donate as much as I can. I’ve been sick the last three times I signed up, but as long as I’m healthy, I’ll keep donating. Blood donation has to be one of the most generous things a person can do. Blood Banks always needs donors and one donation saves three lives, so why not? Knowing you can save someone’s life is one of the best feelings.

Here’s my first blog entry. It’s really not going to be all that exciting, I’m afraid. This blog is going to cover a little of everything. I’m not expecting anybody to really read it, but this is for me. Maybe my second entry will be a little bit more interesting. Ta ta!